Dead Space 3 will include microtransactions that will enable players to download resources for the game's weapon crafting benches, allowing players to create formidable weapons quicker than usual for staving off the relentless hordes of spiky Necromorph monstrosities.

These microtransactions are positioned as time savers and are entirely optional, as Visceral Games has explained. "Not much has been spoken about that, but I can tell you the details now," Visceral's John Calhoun told CVG. "The way the micro-transactions work, is that there’s only three things that you can buy, and they’re basically tiers of different resources. Resources are extremely valuable in Dead Space – we got rid of credits entirely."

Calhoun went on to list some of the resources you can purchase with real money or scavenge in-game: “Everything that you can find in the game can be constructed from resources, which includes Tungsten, Semi-Conductors, Somatic Gel. Combining these in different ways will create either a weapon part, an ammo pack or an upgrade to Isaac’s suit.

“There’s a lot of players out there, especially players coming from mobile games, who are accustomed to micro-transactions. They’re like “I need this now, I want this now”. They need instant gratification. So we included that option in order to attract those players, so that if they’re 5000 Tungsten short of this upgrade, they can have it.

“There’s also the hardcore Dead Space players, who are reluctant to spend money outside the purchase of the game. Honestly, most of the dev team are that way, we’re kind of old school, a little bit older. So not only are the micro-transactions completely optional, but all packs are available to purchase using in-game resources that you find."

We're deep into playing Dead Space 3 for our review at the moment, and keep forgetting to send out our reliable old scavenger bot, who'll help you to gather those invaluable resources before taking them to your bench, as Calhoun explains: “So, your scavenger bot will go out, and sometimes when he comes back he’ll deliver ration seals. You’ll start to accumulate ration seals at a pretty steady clip throughout the game, and everything that can be purchased with real world dollars can also be purchased with ration seals.”

What do you reckon? Will you be patient enough to gather the required resources to craft that combined tesla core and shotgun you've been eyeing up, or would you rather buy the bits you need straight away?

Dead Space 3 is out on February 5th in North America and February 8th in Europe.

This is what us CONSOLE gamers have led these publishers to do to us. Microtransactions. Next: monthly subscription fees for games...*smGDh*

We (CONSOLE gamers) have to let them know that this sucks, by speaking with our WALLETS. If you like the road this going down, well...by all means, microtransaction yourself to your hearts content (along with $60 initial price). If you don't, say it with your wallets, people. Regardless, you're going to let them know, one way or another...

P.S. I'm a CONSOLE gamer. Not a PC gamer. And I DON'T WANT to get used to this type of BS...

Well, if the resources can be found in the game, then your average gamer won't concern themselves with these microtransactions. Besides, "Dead Space" always offers a New Game+ feature, so you'll get everything anyway on multiple playthroughs. It's not a big deal: just EA wanting more of your money IF YOU ARE WILLING TO SPEND IT. If you aren't, then don't. This sorta stuff I'm not interested in: however, if they release a unique suit or weapon that can be used in-game, then BAM! Take my money (especially if the game is as good as the first two games)! :)

Why are people complaining about about an option? Stupid... Who cares. Don't use the microtransactions. You can still do everything in the game at no extra costs.

And by the way new gaming is going the microtransactions route. So get use to it. If you are complaining about an option now, then you might as well quit gaming because future of games will be NON OPTIONAL Microtransactions.

They are a business they do what is needed to make money and if microtransactionis makes them money then that's what they will do. You gotta hope the general public disagree's with microtransactions.

Obviously it's working with mobile gaming / facebook apps. That's why they are bringing it to consoles. The more and more console games that become micortransactions games reinforces the fact that it's profitable. Making all the complainers the minority.

If you owned a business you would do whatever it takes to be profitable and this is what gaming has become to be profitable.

Don't blame EA for trying to get their cut of the profits. Angry Birds /Zynga paved the way for micro gaming. Blame the millions and millions of people that play their games and use microtransactions. Odds are some of you complaining have contributed this yourself.

@3: This has nothing to do with PC Games (which today are merely ports of console games) - this a blight of browser / social network-games and Mobile games.

@7: You hit the nail. People are opposed to this optional feature because one day it might be non-optional. You have to stop it in its roots before it's too late.

@Topic: Those gamers don't need instant gratification. They need a healthy dose of hard work and common sense if they pump out their money for such things. Once you get accustomed to the idea of buying everything you need and instant gratification in games, you want it in real life too. It's a dangerous road for developers to cater to this "needs". I could already see it years ago when I trained a kids group: some spoiled brats wouldn't even get up but demand to be allowed to take the next grade's test (in martial arts).

Keyword - Optional. I honestly hate these microtransactions but if your stupid enough to pay for in-game perks, so be it...or if you lack skill as a gamer. Skill should make you better at a game...not monies. Imagine, Street Fighter introduced micro-transactions where you bought a character's special moves that dealt more damage than the usuals....hey now, that not a bad money grabbing idea....

Do you WORK for them, jday222? Do you have some sort of financial stake in the growth of Electronic Arts? I'm a GAMER, I could CARE LESS what their bottomline is, or what their profit margin is. I care about buying GOOD GAMES for the BEST VALUE. And as far as if I owned a business thing, there are businesses that DON'T GIVE A GOODGDAMN about what the CONSUMER wants (Capcom, EA), and there are businesses, which of course they need to make a profit, give consumers A GREAT PRODUCT FOR THE BEST VALUE. That's all us GAMERS are saying, give me a great product for the best value.

I'll give you an example of what I mean. Capcom made Marvel vs Capcom in 1998, that had (roughly) 22 characters. Dreamcast port had the insane "Crossover Fever" mode where 4 players can be on the screen at one time blasting each other, pretty fun. This was on about a 1.5 gig disc. In 2002 the sequel was 56 characters, 3-on-3 action, more moves, more gameplay elements, more modes to play with, better graphics. On a DVD, by the way. Almost a DECADE later, one of the world's most prized fighting game franchises, you release Marvel vs Capcom 3, on this high-tech new generation of gaming consoles, with plenty of expectations. And what do you do? You release it with 36 characters, bare bones multiplayer modes, and...that's it. For $60. On my PS3's 50-gig bluray disc. NOT a good value. But I should be concerned about Capcom making a profit? Pshyeah...lol.

And I'm not BLAMING EA. I'm not complaining, either. And yeah, I'm one of those people that HAS and probably will in the future buy DLC. But I know how to move on it, though. I'm not buying Day-One, just to get an "ULTIMATE/Premade but wasn't released at launch to sell as DLC" edition later. It's a learning process for me, I'm not used to..."EXPANSIONS"...or "DLC packs" (CONSOLE gamer, here). I'm letting whoever wants to listen know what the GAMEPLAN is through MY eyes, is all. Free Will, you can all do what you want to do. Just know that your ACTIONS (buying DLC, not buying DLC, not buying new, etc.) promote these companies to move in certain directions, is all I'm saying...

P.S. You sound like a complete TOOLBAG, by the way. Jumping on "The Man's" C*ckmeatsandwich, like you are. "Don't blame EA for trying to get their cut of the profits"...Lame-O. *smGDh*

The problem I have with this is that the microtransactions may be optional and you might be able to do the same kind of thing through normal gameplay, but who is stopping a publisher from forcing a developor to for example "Change the needed materials for all of the weapons by 5x to push people towards wanting to pay real money".

Sure you might be able to get those same materials taking 5 hours, 10, 15 but it can still have an effect on the gameplay of those who don't want to do it. There's also nothing stopping them from saying it wouldn't have that much of an impact on the gameplay when it actually does, they do want you to buy the game after all. I guess we'll see.

Also one thing to keep in mind is that for the past two games you could buy dlc weapon packs and suits that were available free in-game at the next shop so it's not that much of a stretch for them to do this now.

This could have an effect if you play co-op though. If you're one of those people (like me) who prefers the full on proper game experience (ie, without just buying your way to win) then you're obviously going to follow a naural progression path. But if you co-op with a microtransaction game who wants MOAR NOW! and buys enough stuff to build uber guns from the outset, then you're going to have far less fun with it.

Don't buy into shit like this then let games like Dust514 fail on the PS3, they want come back for more believe me not when they lose money. I haven't even download Dust514 i don't support what there trying to do because in the end it will effect all of us if it's a hit. keep it on the PC, but people are there own worst enemy thats why you see thing like this succeed.

Thanks people with gratification issues! I hope your all happy when the day comes that you can't play more than five minutes of a game you had thought you've already purchased without having to put more money into it just to keep going, every few minutes, every chapter, every level, every door, every life, whatever; pay more money to continue! Rest assured it's crap like this that is paving the way towards it.

@23: Good look in bringing Millions of people to follow this logic. Most don't care shit and just want their game. Remember the great CoD: MW 2 boycott and how it turned out?

@27: Think of kids which used to play on their smartphones and now persuaded their parents to buy a console. Or your common not-interested-in-games-before girlfriend who now don't even let you near your own console anymore. How did you start gaming? Seen it a friends? How did he come to a console? The early video game adopters had Pong and Tetris and now they have games like WoW, CoD, and GTA to name some big ones. Mobile games are a gateway.

@20 was the worst rebuttal I've ever read. See you only care about yourself and your wants and needs when business don't give a sh*t about you and what you want and that goes for ANY BUSINESS. 1 purpose of a business is to make money and that's it! Bottome line!

I'm just telling you how it is. I'm not a fan of microtransactions either but the gaming world is heading in that direction. Dust 513 a complete microtransaction game which will launch later this year and more will follow.

Maybe before you rebuttle with filth and rubbage you should learn about the corporate/bussiness world and get educated on the subject.

Well this is definitely a way to get extra money out of the impatient people. I personally would rather "farm" those seals to purchase the stuff. About as far as I go with spending extra money is on dlc, anything more and I am looking at them stupid.

I DON'T CARE ABOUT CAPCOM. I DON'T CARE ABOUT EA. HELL, I DON'T CARE ABOUT SONY OR MICROSOFT, EITHER. And I don't CERTAINLY don't care about none of their profit margins. What I DO care about, the selfish gamer that I am, is GREAT GAMES FOR GREAT VALUE. PERIOD. POINT BLANK. I don't care about who's bottomline is being affected by what, I don't care if the C.E.O. of EA Marketing ate an EFFin' baby. I care about, and I would hope it's the main concern of ALL TRUE CONSOLE GAMERS out there, is GREAT GAMES at GREAT VALUE. And if you don't understand that, you INDEED are a ToolBag.

For someone who doesn't care you seem to be getting quite upset over the whole situation. I personally don't see why either one of us should get too beat up over the other, we give games companies money they give us a game, we both get something in return.

But yeah the way games companies are doing business is taking a turn for the worst and in a perfect world I'd agree with you but (and this is a big BUT that doesn't excuse any of the bullshit) it's hard to tell in the games industry what will become a big name and what won't, companies like EA Games have a lot of investors and shareholders who expect to see money so sometimes Micro-Transactions is something they sell to them.

Basically investors and Shareholders like a sure thing, a risk is a risk. I'm not saying EA Games is in the right just that it happens and sometimes the sure things are what pay for the risks. But yeah I agree that there's not enough high value games on the market just big name franchises with people telling us "IT'S HAD BILLIONS POURED INTO IT! THEREFORE IT MUST BE OF GREAT VALUE!"

Don't get me wrong I don't think your wrong for only wanting to buy great games of great value, I can't imagine any other good reason for wanting to buy a game.

And what's wrong with being a kid? You must be old as t*ts...lol. Only old EFF's say sh*t like that. And what are you doing on a gaming site this time of the day with us kids, anyway? Shouldn't you be with your wife and kids? Look at THIS guy, old as EFF...lol.

I mean, YOU went there with the "kids" thing, don't get mad now...lol.

Of course no one will see this or care, but I remember I was in knock down drag out arguments when this bullshit popped up in ME3 and I said its just the beginning, EA will figure out a way to coerce many dupes into paying for a bigger shotgun OR WHATEVER from here on out if it works - I must have worked...

I kind of doubt Bioware and Visceral really "wanted' this as their business model, they know its a slippery slope!

Ah well at least is complet optional is like the uncharted 3 items, you can purchase them on PSN or you just can earn them by playing. I will never spend real money in that B.S. just play the game regular and is done.

What sucks is now ppl will not get the respect for the platinums on games like they used too now... If this is the road were going down most ppl will just buy the PSN Levels... Hey sony theres an idea why not just charge for the levels LOL... Gaming is just unreal and road its going down

Well, jday222 is just being honest, I don't know what makes people believe that companies are really doing what they do "for the people", or in this case, for the gamers. All they care about is money. If in the end they end up losing, it doesn't matter, they don't care if you like the games or not, they want money and that's all.

Yeah, too bad they're ruining gaming industries, but that's how it is, and it's not "oh EA is making visceral and DICE", they all want money! and if people keep paying, they'll keep doing it.

If you give shit to people, people will buy shit. Simple as that, and as they keep buying, they'll keep selling.

And no, I'm not in favor of this, and in fact I hope this is the last videogame I'll ever buy.

I hate to burst the hate bubble, but microtransactions aren't a PC games invention. They're an MMO invention. Anyone claiming Facebook or mobile games have influenced microtransactions are kidding themselves. It works for MMO's, and it'll probably work for consoles, now, too. I'm not happy with it, but there's nothing we can do.

Well, what did you expected, Whan a "game" (CoD) sold a loooooooooooooooooooooooot More on crappy useless maps that should be free than the game itself, as said, soon games will be free, they´ll get the profit with dlc and stuff like this. I miss when you could get a cheat or code(in game) to unlock anything. or at least something funny. now everything is, we added a cloud with the shape of a clown on this map that looks like this one already on the game, $1.99 please. thank you here your 100 kb download. the best dlc I got was star wars force unleash 2, $0.99 almost 3 GB dowload. a good list of trophies and some hours of gameplay, that is how every dlc should be. why, $0.99 everyone will buy it and still the publisher will get a lot of money that way, everyone happy.

I see this as being no different to the instant unlocks you can buy for games on the PSN store. I don't have a problem with it, but I won't be spending any money on it either, I prefer to earn my rewards.

It's a stock standard EA play. Either offer to give you access to in game content earlier and for a fee, or sell you overpowered items right from the get go. Caters to kids who can't play games without this leg up crap.

Can't even read half of these comments... whats the big deal, some gamers don't have the time to put into multiple play-throughs so this is great for them. And if your against it so what, its a single player game with an added on co-op so you can play with friends. if your all about soloing DS cause that's the type of game you want it to be why would you let something like this ruin it for you when you can easily ignore it? bringing co-op and microtransactions gives players more ways to go about the game, totally optional and your choice so I don't see why everyone is flipping out over this

@59 Well maybe you should try instead of asking for someone else to tell you fifty plus comments in after plenty of people have expressed their feelings as to why that is quite eloquently. But if you can't be bothered to read, then you must not need to know, same with these so called "gamers" who can't be bothered to play, they don't need to be rewarded either. Instant gratification is a terrible thing that makes people lazy and allows them to think they're entitled to just about anything with absolutely no effort whatsoever... This is not how the world works and it should not be encouraged.

i dont see the big deal here, near the top of page several rants including #2 "i hope they go bankrupt"... seriously, wtf? chill out! like #62, micro transactions are for pussies, as if ANY respectable Dead Spacer worth his salt would even blink an eyelid at it, ive platinumed all 3 DS games so far (3 as in including extraction), i wont consider it for a split second, but visceral is entitled to make some extra money along the way, the more they make the better any future games will be as has been the story with all the games so far. its not gonna cost the player a single penny extra if they dont want it.

im with #4 on REAL bits of DLC, suits, weapons, missions, i love that kinda stuff and have no problems paying for it, but micro transactions are for the weak and uninitiated. remember also that this cancer will only spread if people use it, if they dont then devs look at other ways to make money. but think about it, dead spacers arent exactly your average bunch of gamers, we dont like having our hands held and like a bit of punishment, such is the very nature of dead space, i doubt many people will use it, but am i pissed off they added it? no way, go for it! let em try and see what happens, as long as they keep pumping out QUALITY games, getting worked up over petty shit like this is a waste of time.

Yuck. I was actually kind of looking forward to playing this game, but my interest has seriously waned after reading this article.

The worst part is that I feel it's largely the trophy hunting community that is causing this kind of crap to seep into games. Devs know people will buy DLC's just to unlock trophies. They could release a DLC that was only additional trophies, and people would buy it.

Now they are figuring out people will also pay more money just to get the trophies that already exist faster and easier.

I can't fault them for good business practice, but I do find fault with the people that will actually use these micro transactions as they will be the ones who justify the decision and thus perpetuate it.

By the way I love the "we got rid of credits entirely" followed up by "you can buy everything with ration seals. WTF LOL I don't care what you call it in game currency is in game currency so sick of people throwing a new label on something and acting like it's the most original innovation ever.

I hate news like these. I'm not so angry that I go "F+#!?*!!C!!" but I really don't approve of these minitrans. Yeah, I bought a console to get away from stuff like minitrans. It's sooo typical EA to make this a part of a game, optional or not. I'm not gonna spend one dime on these transactions, I'm gonna go through the horror as it was supposed to be, and not buff my character with my wallet funding! I hope these transaction will sink into a black hole, because I don't think they belong in games like these where survival and horror are the themes!

I understand how they try to make a business, but there are still limits to what extend you want to go to get money from ppl. I think Mini transactions are for the impatient. I'm gonna beat this game and at the end know, I did it ON MY OWN!

This is a business decision, so it obviously focused on making money based on growing trends and the consumers demographics. I have no issues with any company trying to make a profit, as long as they keep producing quality products that I enjoy. If you think that's wrong, then ask THQ how making games at a loss worked out for them. As with everything, there are Cons and Pros with this:

Pros: - It's Optional - Working adults who play, but have very limited time, can still enjoy certain aspects of a game. - Like DLC, it's a way to make money out of used copies, or rentals. This is a pro, because without profits there are no games.

Cons: - Though it seems Optional, it might form a trend, where games are developed to require excessive grinding, and in a way, forcing those with little time to resort to this service. - If games change to make this service "more appealing" some might stop playing those games all together.

This is not about principles or what kind of "gamer" you are, it's about demand ,and supply. It's how Capitalism works, so relax a bit. For those who worry about this "devaluing" your imaginary gaming accolades, well then you need to realize that the value of any experience lies with you.

Sounds like a win-win for devs. Leave in all the fluff and padding to make it look like a longer game, and then toss in microtransactions so that people can pay even more to skip the grinding and fluff. I don't understand paying for a retail release and then paying even more to play it less.